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Francis Billington (1607-1684)
}} Vital Statistics * Son of John Billington (1580-1630) and Elenor (?) * Born - either 1606 or 1607 - possibly in Lincolnshire, England * Mayflower passenger at age 13 (1620) * Married 16-July-1634 to Christian Penn in Plymouth, MA * Died 13 Dec 1684 in Middleborough, MA Biography Francis, born about 1606. He married Christian (Penn) Eaton in Plymouth in July 1634 and had nine children. A survey in 1650 indicated that Francis Billington was then in New England. He died in Middleboro on December 3, 1684. Francis Billington was named as one of the heirs of Francis Longland of Cowbit, co. Lincolnshire, England. A manorial survey taken in 1650 indicated that Francis Billington was then living in New England and was about 40 years old. Francis himself gave his age as 68 in a deposition from 1674, making him about fourteen when he came on the Mayflower with his parents John and Eleanor Billington. Francis was an active, rambunctious youth. He nearly caused a disaster onboard the Mayflower shortly after arrival in Plymouth Harbor, when he shot off his father's gun inside a cabin, sending sparks towards an open barrel of gunpowder. After he came ashore, he climbed up a tree and claimed to have spotted a "great sea" in the distance: a small pond that still carries the name "Billington's Sea" even today. Following his brother's death shortly after 1627, and his father's execution for murder in 1630, he married Christian (Penn) Eaton, the widow and third wife of Mayflower passenger Francis Eaton. The couple had nine children, raised their family in Plymouth, and moved in their later years to the town of Middleboro, where they both died in 1684. Marriage & Family * Isaac Billington (1637-1709) * Martha Billington (1639-1704) - married step-brother Samuel Eaton (1619-1684) * Mary Billington (1640-1699) - Married to Samuel Sabin * Dorcas Billington (1641-1711) * Rebecca Billington (1648-1648) * Mercy Billington (1652-1718) Vital Records Mourt's Relations From Mourt's Relations Part 1 - "The 5th Day (of December 1620) we, through God's mercy, escaped a great danger by the foolishness of a boy, one of Francis Billington's sons (actually John's son Francis), who, in his father's absence, had got gunpowder and had shot a piece or two, and made squibs, and there being a fowling piece charged in his father's cabin, shot her off in the cabin; there being a little barrel of powder half full, scattered in and about the cabin, the fire being within four feed of the bed betwwen the decks, and many flints and iron things about the cabin, and many people about the fire, and yet, by God's mercy, no harm done." Pilgrim Monument National Monument to the Forefathers, commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims, (including this person) who came to Plymouth Colony in 1620 on the Mayflower. Dedicated on August 1, 1889, it is thought to be the world's largest solid granite monument. Located on an 11 acre hilltop site on Allerton Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts. References * [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1599263998/maintourvacationA/ Mayflower and Her Passengers] by Caleb Johnson - Genealogical research on all Mayflower pilgrims. 292 pages (Pulb 2006). * Francis Billington - disambiguation * Billington in Plymouth County, Massachusetts - first families genealogy * MainTour Plymouth Colony * [Francis Billington - Mayflower History.com Category:Billington (surname) Category: People honored on National Monument to the Forefathers Category: Mayflower passengers Category: Plymouth Colony Category: Migrants from England to Plymouth Colony Category:People of the Plymouth Colony